The Stars Aren't As Pretty As You
by NeverlandNat
Summary: My Valentine's Day fan fiction exchange present to vogonsoup. Phil tells Dan that he will be busy on Valentine's Day, and Dan is pretty upset about it. All Dan wanted was to spend Valentine's Day with his first actual Valentine! But maybe he will... Dan Howell, Phil Lester, danisnotonfire, AmazingPhil, Phan. Rated T for like two swear words someone call the cops.


** Hey guys! So it has been a while since you've heard from me. I'm really sorry about that. I know I say it a lot, but I am. But I'll talk about that some other time… A few days ago was Valentine's Day. I was in a little Valentine's Day fanfiction exchange and I know this is late, but here it is. **

** This fanfiction is specifically for vogonsoup. I hope you like it.**

** Oh and yeah I really should cool it with the high school AUs…**

Dan walked into his classroom and slumped in his seat. He played with the rings on his notebook as he tried not to show how upset he was. Today was..._that day_. It was Valentine's Day, one of Dan's least favorite days of the year. Usually, it was because he was single. But not this year. This year, he actually had a Valentine. It was Phil, his boyfriend of just under a year. So if Dan had a Valentine, why was he so bitter? Well, Phil had told him earlier this week that he was going to be busy with babysitting on Valentine's Day, so all of the romantic ideas that Dan had in his head were, well, dead.

Dan sighed as he overheard people talk about their plans for tonight. It's all anyone talked about and Dan couldn't escape it.

_Oh, you and your girlfriend are going out to a romantic dinner that probably costs a million pounds?_ Dan thought to himself. _Well I'm going to be on tumblr all night while my boyfriend hangs out with a fucking five year old._

Dan wasn't necessarily mad at Phil, he could never be. He was just annoyed and mostly upset. But Phil said he'd make it up to him. Somehow…

When the bell finally rang, Dan got up and trudged to his locker, using every ounce of his power to not murder everyone that talked about their plans.

As Dan pulled books out of his locker, a beautiful red rose appeared in front of his face. It was being held by a soft pale hand, which belonged to a perfect blue eyed, black haired boy.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Phil said to Dan, far more excited than he should be.

Despite Dan's dark mood all day, he found himself smiling right back at Phil as he took the rose into his own hand. Dan gave Phil's grinning lips a quick kiss. Dan held Phil's hand with the hand that wasn't holding the rose.

"Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day." Dan said with a shy smile. "I forgot your present at my house. I could give it to you tomorrow or something."

"Don't worry about it. Maybe I could stop by for a few minutes before I babysit tonight." Phil suggested. Dan closed his locker and leaned his side against it. Dan twirled his rose in his fingers as his smile turned to a frown. "I'm sorry, okay? I wanted to spend tonight with you just as much as you wanted to spend it with me." Phil was upset now because Dan was upset.

"It's fine. There's always next year." Dan said, flatly.

"You know, Valentine's Day isn't the only day I can shower you with presents and treat you like the little princess you are." Phil said, teasingly. Dan broke out into a grin and pushed Phil gently by the shoulder.

"Don't call me that!" Dan complained every time Phil called him that, which was a lot because Phil loved how angry it made Dan.

Phil opened his mouth to retaliate, but was cut off by the minute warning bell, signaling that they had to get to their next classes.

"Damn. Gotta get to class. If I'm late one more time, I'm dead." Phil pulled Dan closer and kissed him swiftly. "See you later?"

"Mhm." Dan fake smiled, still sad underneath.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Phil turned and walked quickly towards his class as Dan took off the opposite way. Dan sat down just as the bell rang. Dan sighed for the millionth time that day. It was going to be a long day.

Hours later, the bell rang to signal the end of the day. Dan went to his locker to find Phil waiting there. They did their usual small talk about how their day went while Dan put away books and did what he had to do.

Hand in hand, they walked out of the building through crowds of other students. Dan felt grateful that none of the other kids even gave them a second glance. They went to a very open minded school that didn't think twice about Dan and Phil dating. In fact, most people found them to be quite the perfect couple.

Dan and Phil took the familiar path to Dan's house like they did every day. Even if Phil wasn't going over to Dan's after school, which was rare, he would always walk him home.

As they reached Dan's front door, Phil caught the sad face Dan was wearing as he looked at the bare ground. Phil lightly pushed Dan's head up with the side of his finger.

"Baby, I told you that I'm sorry. Please don't be upset with me."

"I'm not." Dan lied lightly.

"You are. But I understand why you would be. I'll make it up to you in the best, most amazing, most fantastic way possible."

"Meeting all the band members I've ever wanted to meet?" Dan asked, joking. Phil rolled his eyes.

"I'll make it up to you in the best, most amazing, most fantastic _realistic_ way possible."

"Promise?" Dan stuck out his pinky finger. Dan always made Phil pinky promise on things and Phil thought it was the cutest thing ever.

Phil wrapped his pinky around Dan's and whispered, "Promise."

With pinkies still entwined, Phil brought their lips together in a long kiss that really sealed the promise.

X

It was almost six in the evening and Dan was lying in his bed, laptop on his stomach, and scrolling aimlessly through tumblr, just like he knew he would. He was happy it was at least Friday so he could do this for hours without being too tired in the morning. As he scrolled, a knock sounded on his door.

"Come in." Dan's mum came in, wearing a pretty black dress and carrying a little black handbag.

"Dan, your father and I are leaving now. We won't be back until late, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Dan mumbled.

_Unbelievable. _Dan thought. _Even my parents have plans._

"It's a shame that you can't go out with Phil tonight." His mum said, pitying him.

"Yeah, whatever." Dan continued to scroll.

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

Once they left, Dan continued to scroll through tumblr. He did so for another half an hour when his stomach started to rumble. He sat up and decided to go look for some dinner. As he pushed off his laptop, he heard a soft noise.

_Tap_

Dan froze as his eyebrows furrowed together. He strained his ears to listen some more. A few seconds later, he heard it again.

_Tap_

What the fuck was that? Dan didn't know where it was coming from, but he was getting nervous. His parents were out and so was his brother. What was it?

_Tap_

_ Tap_

Dan looked over at his window, sure that the noise was coming from there. He stood up and cautiously made his way to it. Suddenly, he saw something small hit the window and heard the same noise.

_ Tap_

Dan peered out his window and saw nothing. He opened his window, though he probably shouldn't have, and leaned over, poking his head out.

"Hello?" Dan called. He looked at the ground a few feet below and, again, saw nothing. He decided he was probably being stupid and should just close his window. But before he could, a face popped up in front of his.

"Boo!" The person called.

"Fuck!" Dan exclaimed as he lost his balance and fell onto his carpeted floor. Dan's heart was pounding, but he looked up and got a good look at the person at his window. "Phil?"

"Surprise!" Phil said, landing on his feet inside of Dan's room.

"What the fuck?" Dan said, clutching his chest as he probably just about died from a heart attack.

"You know, you shouldn't open your window when you hear strange noises outside. What if I was a murderer?" Phil said as if he didn't just climb to the second floor of his boyfriend's house.

"What the fuck?" Dan repeated, not knowing what else to say. Phil turned around and closed Dan's window, grinning from ear to ear. "You do know that my house has a front door, right?"

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

"Yeah and where's the fun in giving your fucking boyfriend a heart attack?" Dan's breathing had gone back to normal, but his heartbeat was still through the roof. Phil crossed over to him and put a hand on Dan's chest.

"Hmm. I thought your heart always did that when you saw me."

"Will you just tell me what the hell you're doing?" Dan was still very confused and wanted to know what was happening. Phil sat down on the bed and Dan sat next to him, swinging his legs onto Phil's lap.

"Well, you know how I said I was babysitting tonight?" Phil asked. Dan nodded. "Well, I kinda lied. But it was for good reason!" Phil said quickly, hoping Dan would be okay with Phil lying to him in this particular situation.

"Okay… Why?"

"Because I wanted to surprise you!" Phil said, sweetly.

"Consider me surprised." Dan said facetiously. Though Dan was still getting over his racing heart, he really felt touched that Phil was actually planning something sweet this whole time. Dan leaned over and kissed Phil, cradling his cheek in his hand.

Phil rested his hand on the outside of Dan's thigh, which was still laying in his lap. Phil's tongue licked Dan's bottom lip. Dan opened his mouth, letting Phil's tongue run over his and trace along the already memorized territory.

They kissed like this for a few more minutes before Phil pulled away.

"Come on, baby. We should get going."

"To where?"

"Our date!" Phil kissed Dan again and took his hand. Dan licked over his lips, still feeling Phil's on his own. "And we can even use the front door if you want."

X

They were in Phil's mum's car that Phil had borrowed, driving off to a mystery location. Well, mystery for Dan. Dan had no idea where they were going or how long it would take to get there. Phil told Dan to dress nicely, but not too nicely. Phil was wearing black skinny jeans and a light blue button down shirt under his dark blue coat. Dan wore similar pants and a white button down shirt under his black coat.

They drove for about fifteen minutes until Phil parked the car near the edge of a small cliff.

"Phil, what are we doing here?"

"You'll see." Phil got out of the car. Dan followed.

It wasn't very cold outside and there was no snow on the ground. Their town had been pretty snow-less since Christmas and the temperature wasn't too cold to bear.

Phil walked towards the trunk and opened it.

"What's in there?" Dan asked.

"You'll see." Phil said again.

Phil started to move things around in the trunk, looking for something. Dan looked around where they were.

The cliff wasn't _too_ high and they were far back enough where they probably wouldn't accidentally fall off. They sky was still blue for the most part, but the sun was quickly dipping lower into the sky. There were a few trees around, staying still and creating a little cozy and secluded feeling. Dan didn't know why, but he liked it here.

Phil started pulling things from the trunk and onto the floor. Those things were a blanket, a basket, a small red gift bag, and a big glass bottle. It finally clicked in Dan's mind.

"Phil, did you organize a little picnic for us?"

Dan remembered a night a few weeks back. They were cuddling in Phil's bed, talking about silly things that they wanted to do. One thing Dan wanted to do was have a picnic. He had never had one and thought they looked like fun. Dan thought it was a stupid thing to want and didn't think Phil would remember something so silly. But Dan was touched that he did.

"Yeah." Phil sounded nervous suddenly. "I know it's probably not what you were expecting or what you wanted. And I know that most people would go to a restaurant or something on Valentine's Day. And I know it's not exactly picnic weather, but you said you always wanted to go on a picnic so I figured maybe you'd like it. I know it's kinda stupid, but if you want, we could try and see if there's a real restaurant that we could-"

Dan cut Phil off by pushing him gently against the car and kissing him. Dan slid his tongue into Phil mouth as his hands found Phil's small waist. Phil's hands nervously moved to the sides of Dan's head, playing with his hair. Dan broke the kiss and rested his forehead on Phil's.

"It's perfect, Phil." Dan whispered against Phil's mouth. And it was. It was so simple and sweet and not something that any normal couple would do on Valentine's Day. It was totally perfect for them.

They set up the picnic, cuddled close and talked nonstop while they ate. Phil even brought a bottle of sparkling apple cider to make them "seem fancier" as he had put it.

Dan and Phil exchanged gifts while they watched the sun as it disappeared, turning the scarce clouds to fiery orange and pink then deep purple and black. Pretty soon, the only light left was the dim moonlight. They lay down in each other's arms and gaze at the stars.

"See those stars?" Phil pointed to a cluster of stars. "I think they look like a face." Dan squinted, but couldn't see it.

"What kind of face?" Dan asked. Phil shrugged.

"A pretty one. Like yours." Phil turned to look at Dan, but Dan was still transfixed on the stars.

"I'm not as pretty as the stars." Dan said with his soothing voice.

"Correction, the stars aren't as pretty as you." Phil squeezed Dan's hand. Dan turned his head so his face was right in front of Phil's.

"I love you, you know."

"I know. I love you, too."

And it was true. No matter how many people said that sixteen year olds were too young to understand love or they didn't have the capacity to realize what love actually is, Dan and Phil knew love. They knew love with each other.

Pretty soon, it became too cold outside to stand. Dan and Phil packed up their things and went back to Phil's house. Dan had already packed an overnight bag and told his parents he wouldn't be home, so they went straight there.

They decided to spend the rest of their Valentine's Day laying in Phil's warm bed, watching movies. At three in the morning, they turned out the lights and cuddled under the covers.

"Thank you for the most perfect Valentine's Day ever." Dan said.

"Anything for you. Thank you for being the most perfect boyfriend ever."

"Hey." Dan cupped Phil's cheek with his hand. "Don't be sappy."

"I can be sappy if I want to. At least for this one day."

They stared into each other's eyes in silence as Dan stroked Phil's cheekbone with his thumb. Phil turned his head and kissed Dan's palm before looking into his eyes again.

"I love you." Dan said, pulling Phil closer.

"I love you, too." Phil closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep after a perfect day.

They soon fell asleep, both of the boys dreaming soundly of the other.

**Oh man that one was fun to write. I'm going to try and make this short-ish. Again, I know this is late, but I hope that's alright! I hope you all liked it, especially you, vogonsoup. This was your Valentine from me! **

**And if you read Walking Through Fire Without A Burn, I will try to get a new chapter up soon. And if you want, leave me questions now for my bonus chapter thing. It'll be fun.**

**I hope you guys liked it! And please leave me a review because I would really appreciate your feedback right now. Even if it is just one word. Thank you. I'll see your pretty faces later!**

**-Natalie**


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